A post-collisional magmatic plumbing system: Mesozoic granitoid plutons from the Dabieshan high-pressure and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic zone, east-central China

Three groups of Mesozoic shoshonitic or high-K calc-alkaline intrusive rocks are identified in Dabieshan high-pressure (HP) and ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic zone, east-central China and they are related to: (I) slab breakoff; (II) magmatic underplating; and (III) doming. Group-I, the slab breakoff-type, consists of late Triassic (similar to 210 Ma) mafic monzodiorites. It has moderate to high Sr, and low Rb and Ba abundances, and moderate light rare earth element (LREE)/heavy rare earth element (HREE) and K/Rb ratios. Group-II, the underplating-type, consists mainly of middle Jurassic-early Cretaceous (160-120 Ma) hornblende quartz monzonitic, biotite monzogranitic, and syenogranitic plutons, characterized by relatively high LREE/HREE and K/Rb ratios, and by a large range in concentration of Sr and Ba, coupled with much smaller range in Rb. Group-III, the doming-type, is represented by Cretaceous (125-95 Ma) granitic stocks and granitic porphyry. Compared with group-II, it has high Rb, Y and HREE abundances, low Sr and Ba abundances and low LREE/HREE and K/Rb ratios. All groups have similar Nd and Sr isotopic compositions. Among the three groups, post-collisional granitoid magmatism (group-II) with ages of 160 to 120 Ma, post-dating the HP and UHP metamorphism at 245 to 220 Ma, is the most abundant in the Dabieshan area. The post-collisional granitoid plutons were initially emplaced at different levels ranging from mid-crust to near-surface. This study shows that the whole-rock chemistry of the granitoids vary systematically with crystallization pressures. For example, K2O, normative Or, Rb and Zr show the strongest increase with decreasing pressure, whereas Ba, Nb, Nd, Yb, MnO, and normative An decrease upward in the Dabie Block. It is suggested that ascent of differentiated, buoyant liquids, combined with fractionation paired with assimilation (AFC), is responsible for the vertical variation. Geological, geochemical and petrological data indicate that group-I could have been generated by partial melting of enriched subcontinental lithosphere mantle due to slab breakoff. Group-II rocks could have been produced mainly from crustal assimilation/melting and fractional crystallization of mantle-derived magmas, whereas group-III magma could have derived from anatexis of the Dabie complex and was highly evolved in a hot doming setting. The late Triassic-early Jurassic slab breakoff may be responsible for the exhumation of UHP rocks through the mantle. The voluminous granitic emplacement together with an episode of rapid denudation suggests that magmatic underplating and inflation could have played a role in the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rapid exhumation of Dabieshan. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.